This site is made possible by member support. ❤️
Big thanks to Arcustech for hosting the site and offering amazing tech support.
When you buy through links on kottke.org, I may earn an affiliate commission. Thanks for supporting the site!
kottke.org. home of fine hypertext products since 1998.
March of the Penguins has become a favorite for conservative moviegoers, who cite it as making a good case for monogomy, intelligent design, and a pro-life stance on abortion. I wonder if liberals watch the film and come out advocating universal health care…all those dead penguin babies could have been saved with proper medical care.
Elizabeth Kolbert (who wrote three articles for the NYer on global warming earlier in the year) discusses global warming as a possible cause for Hurricane Katrina. Like the climate scientists on RealClimate contend, Kolbert notes that no particular storm can be caused by global warming, but that the long-term patterns don’t look good…increased greenhouse gases = warmer oceans = more destructive hurricanes. Paul Recer downplays the connection as well and cautions environmental groups who want to make political hay with scientific evidence that doesn’t support their claims.
Interview with Frans de Waal about his work with primate behavior and politics. “I call the human species the most bipolar ape, meaning that we go beyond chimps in our violence, which is systematic and often results in thousands of dead, and we go beyond the bonobo in our empathy and love for others, so that human altruism is truly remarkable.”
The Christian paradox in the US: “America is simultaneously the most professedly Christian of the developed nations and the least Christian in its behavior.”
Steven Johnson’s open letter to Hillary Clinton regarding her call for a Congressional investigation about the effects of video games on children. “I know a congressional investigation into [the violence and hostility in high school] football won’t play so well with those crucial swing voters, but it makes about as much sense as an investigation into the pressing issue that is Xbox and PlayStation 2.”
“Right and left wing blogs are both crap”. “The left is full of crop circle paranoids. The right is full of stupid angry people. The sheer volume of information in both does manage to strip things to bare bones facts, but not by virtue of intelligence, just volume - like a colony of bacteria feeding on a corpse.”
Looks like Karl Rove was Matt Cooper’s source about Valerie Plame. But he may not have known her name or that she was undercover at the time.
How to solve the separation of church and state problem in the US. “Offer greater latitude for religious speech and symbols in public debate, but also impose a stricter ban on state financing of religious institutions and activities”.
Rumor: Karl Rove leaked Valerie Plame’s identity to Time magazine.
Hillary in 2008?. A poll of more than a hundred political insiders — Republicans and Democrats both — on Hillary Clinton’s chances if she were to run for President in 2008.
Bernie Goetz is running for public advocate on a platform of vegetarianism and, uh, squirrels. Goetz shot four youths who tried to rob him on the NYC subway in 1984. (Is this campaign for real?)
WSJ: we should fund PBS, but remove anything remotely liberal. “But real history, meaning something that happened in the past as opposed to the recent present, with which PBS, alas, cannot be trusted.”
Is persuasion dead?. “Persuasion just isn’t relevant to delivering elections or eyeballs. Pols have figured out that to get votes you don’t need to change minds. Even when they want to, modern media make it hard.”
I used to be a neocon. “I supported Bush’s war on Iraq and I called everyone who didn’t a liberal Kool-aid drinker. I voted for Bush in 2000 and I listened to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and just about any right-winger on the radio that I could get a four-word talking point from to use against liberals.”
Schwarzenegger has road crew dig up pothole so he can fill it in later.
How the Vanity Fair article about Deep Throat came about. Sounds like Woodward and Bernstein kinda got the shaft.
The Washington Post confirms that Mark Felt is Deep Throat. Woodward, Bernstein, and Ben Bradlee confirmed the story as well. Woodward is writing an article about the experience to be run on Thursday.
Identity of Deep Throat finally revealed. Mark Felt, who was second in command at the FBI at the time, helped Woodward and Bernstein with their research into Watergate.
FAQ: How Real ID will affect you. So nice that they snuck it in on a completely unrelated bill like that…I don’t remember that aspect of gov’t being explained in that Schoolhouse Rock song about the bill.
Kerry supporters barred from international telecom meeting by Bush Administration. This type of thing makes me *so* angry. It’s the fucking **US** government, not the Republican government or Bush government. So! Angry!
Stay Connected